White River Junction
American Legion Post 26, which has been without a lounge area since moving out of its former South Main Street location in 2012, has signed a two-year lease to open a multi-purpose space at 27 Farmvu Drive, according to general manager Gene Blanchard.
A bar and lounge for members will be on one side of the facility and a cafe open to the general public will preside on the other, Blanchard said.
Founded in 1919 — the same year the first American Legion began operating, in Paris — Post 26 was among the first American Legion posts in Vermont when it registered in July of that year, according to Melodie Ashford, executive administrator for American Legion Vermont in Montpelier.
Beginning in the late 1960s, Post 26 held meetings and social functions in a 22,400-square-foot building at 129 South Main St.
Hit hard by membership declines, Post 26 struggled to pay bills there and auctioned off many of its assets before moving out in December 2012.
The South Main Street building was converted into apartments and a restaurant by developer Matt Bucy.
Blanchard and Post 26 adjutant Denis Backus last week shopped for replacement assets, including kitchen equipment for part of the Farmvu Drive space that they plan to operate as an American-style diner, with breakfast and lunch items available daily from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Blanchard, a Hartford resident with cooking experience at several area restaurants, plans to manage both the 45-seat dining area and 40-seat lounge, he said.
No alcohol will be served in the former, which will serve traditional favorites such as omelets and pancakes at breakfast and lunch staples like soups, burgers and sandwiches at lunch, with daily specials.
Blanchard said he expects the menu to expand once customer feedback can be incorporated.
The building, off of Holiday Drive in the Gilman Office Center complex, neighbors several businesses, including a credit union and auto parts store.
“There are a lot of businesses in that area, so we’re hoping some of their (employees and customers) will come try us out,” said Blanchard, whose cooking experience includes stints at Four Aces Diner in West Lebanon and at a Marriott hotel. “Everyone is welcome.”
Patrons of the traditionally members-only lounge, which will serve alcohol, may occasionally utilize the dining area for special occasions and small group dinners, Blanchard said.
With membership down to about 140 — it was nearly 400 when it moved out of the South Main Street location — Blanchard and Backus are hopeful some of those who left will rejoin now that a social and function area is resurfacing.
For the last six years, Post 26 held meetings at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and in a former television studio on Dewitt Drive.
The new space is only about 2,000 square feet, Blanchard surmised, making it much less expensive to maintain while serving the same social functions.
“When you’re a member of the Legion, you don’t just want to go to meetings; you want a place to go where you can sign the book, hang out and be involved,” Blanchard said. “This will hopefully give more people a good reason to become members.”
Aside from the cafe and lounge, the building also has two small rooms to be used as administrative offices, plus another that will be a meeting room, Blanchard said.
The latter also will hold meetings staged by the affiliated Sons of the American Legion and Ladies Auxiliary, groups comprised of veterans’ relatives.
A second American Legion post based in Hartford, Jeffery S. Holmes Post 84, has about 50 nationwide members who conveyed in honor of Holmes, a Hartford native and U.S. Marine who was killed in combat during the Iraq war in 2004.
Scott Holmes, Jeffery’s father and Post 84’s financial officer, said he doesn’t consider the group in competition with Post 26 for members.
Post 84 holds periodic meetings at the VA Medical Center, to which they donate some of their membership and fundraiser proceeds, Holmes said.
“We’re a substance-free post, so we wouldn’t have much need for a lounge,” Holmes said in a phone interview. “We prefer to keep our expenses low so that we can donate to the VA and to various children’s and youth groups.”
Post 26 officials hope their space on Farmvu Drive will open by the end of February.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.
Correction
The new American Legion Post 26 space at 27 Farmvu Drive is part of the Gilman Office Center. Additionally, a tattoo parlor is no longer a tenant in the complex. An earlier version of this story was incorrect on these points.